Metallic roofing



mo Model.) 2 Sheets8heet 1.

W. H. MULLINS. METALLIC ROOFING.

No. 520,370. Patented May 22, 1894.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets$heet 2. W. H. MULLINS. METALLIC ROOFING.

No. 520,370. Patented May 22, 1894.

WASHINGTON. n. o.

THE rmnomu. umusaamma coMPANV.

UNITE i1) TATES PATENT FFIo.

WILLIAM H. MULLINS, OF SALEM, OHIO.

METALLIC ROOFING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 520,370, dated May 22,1894. Application filed October 30, 1893. Serial No. 489,479. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. MULLINS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Salem, in the county of Oolumbiana and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Roofing; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to metallic roofing, and resides in certainimprovements in this art which will be hereinafter described andparticularly pointed out in the claims following. v

The object of this invention is to produce in sheet metal a highlyornamental covering for roofs, in imitation of terra-cotta tiling, whichshall be proof against leakage, or damaging effects of the elements; andwhich, in short, shall be artisticin appearance, durable in its nature,easily applied,and remarkably rigid and close in its joints.

It is a well known fact that the durability of a roof does not dependupon its thickness, but rather upon quality of the material used, andits construction, and for this reason I prefer to use sheet copper of acomparatively light gage, although it will be apparent that other metalssuch as aluminum, tin, or iron are well adapted for use in connectionwith my invention.

Particularly stated the improvements consist in a sheet or sheets ofmetal stamped or otherwise embossed in an artistic pattern, said sheetsbeing adapted to overlap with the least possible waste of material andprovided each with a system of ridges to guard against leakage at thejoints, and grooves or gutters to conduct off any leakage or moisturethat may accumulate or find its way between the plates. Further thanthis, the individual plates are stamped in a manner to insure thegreatest rigidity, and are sheared diagonally at their ends to encouragewater upon the roof in flowing or blowing away from the lap jointsrather than to them. These tiles are preferably formed in bold relieffor the following reasons, namely: first, in order to obtain the richesteffect of lights and shades thereon; secondly, to provide for expansionand contraction, in both. directions, by fullness of the materialitself; thirdly, to furnish an air space between the sheathing and themetallic roof, thusadding warmth thereto; and fourthly, to constitute aseries of snow guards for the prevention of an avalanche of snow in theWinter.

My invention also contemplates and includes cleats of peculiarconstruction for securing said plates to the roof, and it will beobserved that plates constructed as shown and described may be closelynested one within another thus facilitating the packing of them forstorage or transportation, and rendering them easily applied to abuilding.

In the accompanying drawings which form part of this specification, andin which like letters of reference indicate like parts whereveremployed: Figure 1, represents a plan view of parts of four metallicplates made in accordance with my invention showing in dotted lines themanner in which they overlap and break joints. Fig. 2, is a longitudinalsection taken on. the line 2-2 Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a correspondingvertical section on the line 33 Fig. 1; Fig. 4, an enlarged longitudinalsection through two securing cleats, and adjacent parts. Fig. '5, is anenlarged perspective view of a portion of roofing. Fig. 6, is aperspective view of a oleat for securing the'plates in position; Fig. 7,a similar view of a single tile detached, and Fig. 8 is a plan view on asmall scale of one plate embodying a series of tiles.

Reference being had to the drawings and letters thereon, A is thesheathing or under lying boards to which my improved roofing is applied;and B, B, B", B indicate the adjacent edges of corresponding metallicsheets preferably made of copper stamped or otherwise formed torepresent in bold relief overlapping upper and lower tiles a and brespectively, as shown.

Extending longitudinally across the entire top of sheets B, is acontinuous offset 0, which bounds the upper edges of each tile a, and isprovided with a substantially continuous groove, gutter or water-drainD, the inner wall of the latter being slightly mutilated at itslowermost points by a spout 0 serving as a drain therefrom. Both theupper and lower tiles a and b of each sheet terminatein a bottom flange,or downwardly extending lip d, which adds to the appearance and servesas astiifening rib for the individual tiles and the plates from whichthey are formed, the lower lip d performing also, the important functionof engaging and inclosing one portion of olfset O of the next platebelow, whereby the two plates are locked with relation to each other.

Immediately below the point of each tile a plates B are raised orembossed as shown at E and provided with an elongated slot 6 throughwhich protrudes afastening cleat F said embossment serving to turn waterfrom the slot 6 therein, and also to stiffen the plate B at this fiatand consequently weaker point. Cleats F are formed from a single stripof pliable material corrugated as at ff to form an anchor portion, andextending upward at the center in a double fold G, the latter beingvertically slit as shown at 9 Fig. 6.

This being substantially the nature and construction of my invention,its mode of application is as follows: Beginning at the caves of abuilding and at one end, plates B are laid horizontally their diagonallycut ends-overlapping as indicated. by dotted and heavy lines in Fig. 1;the metal above offset 0 of said plates being preferably cut away forthe purpose of reducing weight and economizing .cost. The first courseof plates thus laid may be the subject of a special fastening to theeaves-board of a building, but all subsequent plates are firmly andsufficiently secured by the cleats F which straddle the offset 0 nearits upper end as shown in Figs. 2 and 4:. A second course of plates isthen laid as before, the lower series of tiles b neatly inclosing offsetC of the first laid plates, care beingtaken to break joints between theends of said plates of the first course, as far as possible, in orderthat the diagonal ends of the plates shall not register one withanother. In this position it will be seen that the vertical fold G ofcleats F will project through slot e of the embossment E; where, owingto the slit g, it maybe bent or folded in opposite directions as clearlyshown in Fig. 5, thus serving the purpose of both an end and side cleat,and proving of special advantage in drawing the plates B snugly down andholding them against the possibility of rattling. In like manner allsubsequent plates are applied until the last or ridge plate is reachedin which latter it is desirable not to cut away that portion above theoffset 0, same being left to receive an overlapping ridge-cap, or othersuitable covering.

The construction and application of my improved roofing beingsubstantiallyas set forth, it will be understood that many minor changesin form and construction may be made and substituted for those hereinshown and described without departing, in the least, from the spirit ofmy invention; as for instance tiles may be made up separately, asillustrated by Fig. 7 and individuallyapplied to a roof in manner andform the same as if said tiles each constituted one of a series in acontinuous plate.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A metallicroofing tile bounded on its upper edges by an offset provided with agroove or gutter therein, and on its lower edges by a suitable lip forinclosinga portion of the next tile below, substantially as de scribed.

2. A metallic roofing plate consisting of a series of tiles, alongitudinal offset bounding the upper edges thereof and convergingwaterdrains formed in said offset between the tiles,

substantially as described.

3. A metallic roofing-plate consisting of a connected series of tiles, alongitudinal offset bounding the upper edges thereof, convergingwater-drains between the tiles, and a spout leading from the drains,substantially as described.

4. A metallic roofing-plate consisting of a duplicate series of tiles, alongitudinal ofiset bounding the upper edge of the plate, Waterdrainsformed in said offset, and a cleat or cleats secured to the roof andpenetrating the plate for retaining it in position, substantially asdescribed.

5. A metallic roofing-plate consisting of a series of tiles, alongitudinal offset bounding the upper edge of the plate, water-drainsin said offset, slotted embossments formed in the plates, and suitableroof cleats passingthrough said slots and folding upon the embossments,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I subscribe my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

WILLIAM H. MULLINS.

Witnesses:

F. J. MULLINS, R. J. THOMSON.

